Manutai: Mooloolaba to Gladstone via Fraser Island

Sailing to Fraser Island meant crossing Wide Bay Bar, our first bar crossing on the trip. We'd timed our departure from Mooloolaba to get to the bar on a rising tide. We couldn't see the entry leading lights, supposedly visible by day, so we relied on our chartplotter and the passage of other boats, including Andiamo!, who were crossing immediately before us.

Blue fluro leads in sight while we crossed the bar

Making our way through the Great Sandy Strait,
the narrow and shallow passage between Fraser Island and the mainland

Captain, my Captain

Our first night we anchored at Garry's Anchorage with half a dozen other boats. The following day at high tide, there was a synchronised raising of anchors as boats moved to their next destination - for us North White Cliffs.

Peak hour

North White Cliffs, pink in the afternoon sun

Fraser Island to Gladstone was an easy 22 hour passage. We left our anchorage after morning tea on Andiamo! with Malcolm, Lindsay and Dave. We were to part ways for a few days as we headed to Gladstone, from where we were flying to Sydney for a wedding and a family lunch, with a plan to regroup sometime, somewhere.

We reached Outer Rock at 4:00 a.m., one hazard we were particularly watching out for because according to the chart it wasn't lit. It was in fact well lit with a white, red and green lights, so rounding it was no trouble.

Approaching and sailing past the dozen or massive, floodlit cargo ships anchored in their sea berths outside Gladstone was an amazing sight. We got into the start of the channel just before dawn and so it was still lit - it makes for quite a runway. As our length is over 10m we're obliged to call in with harbour control and keep a listening watch, but there was only one cargo ship underway in the channel during our 4 hour entry.

Channel markers in Gladstone harbour

Lots of loading in Gladstone

One of the processing plants, turning bauxite to alumina

Pilot tugs taxi rank

Silos

A big pile of white stuff that turned out to be limestone

Unfortunately it was closed

We had a couple of days berthed in the Gladstone Marina. Jeremy has no fewer than three nephews working in Gladstone, and his niece Martha was visiting with her son Xavier. It was great to catch up with them all and particularly fun to have Martha and Xavier stay for a sleepover.